


Catch me if you can

by Daisyflo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ben is a cop, F/M, M/M, Rey is just an idiot, Well actually they're both idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 07:10:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16132226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daisyflo/pseuds/Daisyflo
Summary: When Rey is so desperate to draw Ben's attention that anything sounds like a good idea. Including stealing a dog.





	1. Well, that could have gone better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to obsessivepropulsive for her help ❤

“Finn, we can see you, you know?”

“Isn’t that the point?”

A smirk made its way on Rey’s lips as she watched her friend roll his eyes and come back to the chair he’d just left. He may have been reluctant and called her insane, but he’d nonetheless followed her into the shabby pub they were now sitting in and had agreed to stick to her plan –as crazy as it sounded.

“The point,” she articulated on a low voice so the other customers around them wouldn’t hear, “is to be invisible until we catch his attention.”

A sigh escaped Finn’s pursed lips as he rolled his eyes once again. Ignoring her friend's glare as he leveled his glass to his mouth, Rey creased her brows with a pleading expression she knew he couldn't resist. After a few seconds of silent staring contest, the young man sighed once again and put his cocktail back on the small table separating them, his soft eyes shadowed by a severe look.

“You couldn't have had your heart set on a librarian, could you?”

Accompanying her soft chuckle with a small smile, Rey took a sip of her tea and shrugged innocently. Yes, she could have let her eyes linger on the librarian –or the florist situated right under her apartment. She could’ve set her mind on anyone, really; but it had to be a fucking cop.

The one who’d arrested her twice, added to that.

“I guess I have a thing for authority,” she added before slightly biting her upper lip, scanning the surroundings with her piercing hazel eyes.

“No you don’t.” Finn sighed as he followed her gaze that had stopped on a ginger corgi happily trotting behind his owner. “This one?” he added on a lower voice.

Careful not to alert the surrounding customers, Rey nodded slowly, ignoring her friend’s nervous gulps. If it hadn’t been for years growing up together, he probably wouldn’t have stuck to this silly plan- but as always, Finn’s heart was bigger than his fears. In fact, he’d been in since the first time she’d mentioned her childhood friend now turned policeman and the utter crush she’d had on him for years; except he probably would’ve preferred she asked him for texting advice.

“On the count of three,” she murmured behind her empty glass.

Letting one last sigh escape him, Finn kept his eyes on the small dog that passed next to their table and, even to Rey’s surprise, clumsily grabbed him before walking away.

“Baby-?”

If she hadn’t been mortified at the realization that the dog was still attached to its leash, Rey would’ve burst out laughing at Finn’s expression when his gaze met the one of the stranger who, clueless about the dognapping happening right under his nose, raised an eyebrow at the young man carrying his dog in his arms.

“You are Ben Solo?” Finn babbled after a few seconds of awkward silence, his eyes not leaving the stranger’s. “No way. I refuse.”

With a chuckle, the man shook his head and gave him a smile before nervously looking at his dog, then at Finn again. “No, sorry- Poe Dameron here. You are?”

“Finn,” he replied almost in a whisper, not letting his eyes go off the stranger.

“I, uh- I guess you like dogs?” the man inquired with an arched eyebrow as he pointed at the corgi still in Finn’s arms, who was not looking the least bit distressed by this sudden change of environment.

Rolling her eyes at her friend’s inaptitude to break the rules even for a few seconds, Rey risked a glance at the man who’d caught his attention. He was handsome, she couldn’t deny it; but with every passing second of mutual heart-eyes they were looking at each other with, her own chance to catch a certain someone’s attention was becoming more uncertain.

“Sorry,” she mumbled after a few seconds as she left her chair.

Careful not to cross the men’s eyes as she interrupted their conversation, she took the dog from Finn and, before any of them could stop her, started running to the other side of the street.

“Hey! Come back here!” They both started to shout as she kept running, headed to a particular area of the neighborhood.

After weeks of observing his routine, she’d come to know his shifts and areas of patrol: Green Road on Monday and Tuesday, from 9am to 3pm. Theed Avenue on Wednesday from 5pm to 11pm –with sometimes a little break in the park- and finally, Kanata Street on Friday and Sunday from 2pm to 9pm, leaving Saturday as his day off where he usually headed to the pub situated right next to a library.

 _Perfectly on time_ , she thought as she caught sight of the small shop from the corner she’d just taken. Even in the darkness of the nascent night, she could see the covers of the luxurious books displayed behind the windows in a way that seemed intriguing enough to lure potential clients inside –at least, the kind of clients that would spend insane amount of money on books that could be bought online.

Despite the late hour, the figure she’d been hoping to see was there, standing in front of the small store. Of course, of all the places in the city, this was the one he chose to spend his Saturday nights.

“Nerd,” she grinned through a smile.

Ignoring her cheeks blushing and her heartbeats fastening, Rey took a breath and wrapped the dog in her coat, still surprised that he hadn’t flinched since the beginning of their escape. Brushing away her growing concerns about his attachment to his owner, she made her way to the window display and casually stopped next to the man she’d been planning this insane trick for. Repressing the temptation to clear her throat and announce her presence, she silently stared at the books enlightened by a frail lamp.

 _Alice in Wonderland_ , she read on the first shelf on which some cup of teas were skillfully laid out. Classic.

 _To Kill A Mockingbird_. Boring.

 _Fahrenheit 451-_ slightly more interesting, yet too famous to catch her attention.

Just as she lingered on the beautifully engraved cover of _Invisible Man_ , her eyes met the brown ones she’d been waiting for but not expecting to see so soon and, in the space of a second, her heart twisted.

“Rey?”

Pulling away from her contemplation, she instinctively took a step backwards and turned to the man who towered her with a disconcerting ease.

“Hi!” she greeted with a voice that maybe sounded a bit too enthusiastic. “I didn’t know it was you!”

“I didn’t know you liked old books,” he retorted with a frown.

Oh, she’d forgotten how low his voice could go and how his arms looked every time he crossed them against his –wide- chest. Of course, he wasn’t wearing his uniform, but she couldn’t help noticing the black sweater embracing his silhouette with the most-

“What are you trying to hide?”

Dragged away from her daydream, she hadn’t noticed the corgi’s agitation under her coat. Suddenly, this whole plan appeared as the worst she’d ever had and she wished she’d had settled for Finn’s initial idea to steal picks-and-mixes.

“Nothing,” she lied while visibly struggling against the animal’s insisting wiggles. Before she could think about some way to get away with the situation she’d stuck herself into, a small, happy face emerge from her coat’s collar and greeted them with a joyous bark.

“Is that your dog?”

His tone was almost soft, encouraging her to keep the lie going. Just as she was about to nod, a distant voice made her shudder and regret the whole thing.

“Rey! Rey, give the dog back!”

Gritting her teeth as to not shout something she would regret, Rey turned on her heels to see Finn running after the handsome stranger who, leash in hand, only had eyes for the corgi that was now sneaking out of her coat, obviously in a rush to go back to his owner.

When the two men finally reached them, she hardly noticed Finn’s apologetic look hidden behind his awe at the reunion happening at their feet: on his knees, the dog’s owner was rubbing the corgi’s belly with his bare hands, pressing his forehead against the small snout excitedly sniffing his head.

Deep in her admiration of the scene, it took Rey the sound of a throat clearing and Finn’s wince as he looked behind her to remember what was waiting for her. Biting her lips, she risked a look above her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Ben shaking his head with disapproval, a hand on his hips and the other holding his handcuffs.

“Well, that could have gone better.” She whispered to Finn as the cold, metallic bracelets locked around her wrists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompts used: “Finn, we can see you, you know?” - “On the count of three.” - “You are Ben Solo? No way. I refuse.” - “I didn’t know it was you!” - "What are you trying to hide?” - “Is that your dog?” - “Well, that could have gone better.”


	2. So, funny story...

“I can’t talk to you until I’ve had some coffee.”

Letting out a sigh for the umpteenth time since she’d gotten here a few hours ago, Ben looked up at the girl nonchalantly sitting on the chair opposite to his, a look of disbelief slowly making its way on his eyes as he realized her request was serious.

“Are you kidding me? It’s three in the morning.” He hissed, only met with a slight shrug at the other end of the table.

Of all the days of the week, she _had_ to choose the only one he wasn’t supposed to work. Had it been the first time, he would probably have forgiven her- except this was the third time in a month he found himself dragging Rey to the post for such ridiculous reasons as impromptu singing in the middle of the night in a residential neighborhood and candies theft.

And now, dognapping.

“Just write down your version of the story, sign it and we’ll compare it to Mr. Dameron’s,” he recited as he slid a blank form to her, doing his best to avoid her gaze he could feel on him.

To say he’d had a crush on her was an understatement. His teenage years had been both a torment and delight, rhythmed by the daily laughter and questions that’d seduced him in the blink of an eye the first time she’d stepped into the classroom, curious and eager to make a new friend out of him. Unfortunately, he’d never found the courage to confess his love- contrary to many others. Of course, none of them were ever good enough for her and usually left after a week or two- but still, they’d had a taste of the girl he’d fallen madly in love with. Gradually, he’d taken his distance from her, careful not to let his jealousy and frustration break their friendship that inevitably suffered from this absence until nothing of it remained, except a Facebook connection and yearly impersonal birthday wishes.

Until a few weeks ago, when she ran into him and had stared at his uniform with a dumbfounded look in her hazel eyes, her cheeks pink from the winter wind.

“Am I not allowed to have anything I want?” She asked, pulling him away from his daydream.

Their interrogations were usually silent, filled with awkwardness and stolen gazes while she filled out the papers he tirelessly gave her. Surprised by her question, Ben shook his head while still staring at the paper she hadn’t even touched.

“No. You can have a glass of water and give a call, that’s it.” He recited without a blink.

Another silent settled on the room, beckoning him to look up and see what she was doing.

“Alright,” she shrugged, “I’ll take the glass of water.”

Once again surprised by her easy surrender, Ben nodded briefly and left his chair with another sigh. “Anyone you’d like to call?” he added as he walked to the door. Casting a glance above his shoulder to see her nodding with haste, he grabbed the doorknob a little firmer than intended and took a step out of the interrogation room. “Alright. I’ll be back.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be off today?” A voice greeted him as soon as he walked into the break room.

“Change of plan,” he mumbled as he filled a glass with tap water under the eyes of his colleagues. Before one of them could add anything, he stepped away from the sink and, careful not to cross Armitage’s gaze, made his way back to the room he’d just left.

She was still there, the same inquiring look displayed on her face. He’d almost forgotten the freckles scattered over her cheekbones.

“Be quick,” he mumbled as he gave her the phone he’d confiscated an hour ago, along with her wallet and other belongings. Sitting back in the small chair he’d left, he went back to his previous contemplation of his interlaced hands, both patiently waiting for Rey to make her call and curious about whom of all her contact list she would choose.

A friend?

A roommate? 

A _boyfriend_?

“What’s your number?” She asked after a few seconds of silence. 

Once again taken aback by her unexpected request, Ben took a moment to replay her words in his mind, to the point that he ended up doubting about his abilities to hear properly. Not without a frown, he looked up from his hands and this brown gaze met hers, shiny and malicious.

His heart sunk to his feet.

“What-”

“You said I can give a call, right?” She explained, not the least bit losing her composure. “I want to call you.”

It was the first time he heard someone speak with such confidence in this room- and he’d seen many people here.

“I… I’m right here,” he babbled with incomprehension.

Her phone in hand, Rey shrugged at his remark and held his gaze, a small smile curling her pink lips. “My problem.”

There had to be something -a law or internal rule- that would allow him refuse. But, truth be told, he wasn't as reluctant as his panicked expression implied. Not once breaking eye contact, he took a deep breath and started spelling out his number under her satisfied gaze, doing his best to ignore how his heartbeat fastened every time she smirked.

Three tones echoed distantly from her phone, soon followed by a vibration in his pocket. Just as he reached for it, Rey shook her head and raised a hand to stop him, her ear still glued to the device.

Finally, the vibrations stopped and he heard his own voicemail filling the silence that had once again fell on the room.

“Hi it’s me, Rey.”

Soft yet slightly trembling, her voice made him smile.

“ _Don’t look at me like that_ ,” She added while dramatically covering the phone with her free hand, a frown creasing the skin of her forehead. “Sorry, it’s you- you’re being embarrassing. Anyway, since I asked for a coffee, I think you legally owe me one so here’s my number.”

Unable to speak, Ben helplessly watched her as she spelled out her number, praying for her not to hear his heart he could feel drumming against his chest and temples. Had he wanted her number, he could’ve just called her back or search for her file in the archives; but something in her eyes led him to believe she knew exactly what she was doing. Beaming, she hung up just after instructing him to call her soon and put her phone on the table, a shrug shaking her narrow shoulders. “Thanks.”

 _How could she act as if she hadn’t said anything?_ Biting the inside of his cheeks to prevent any facial expression from betraying his astonishment, Ben grabbed the device and placed it in his back pocket.

“I’ll get your coffee,” he heard himself grumble as he stood up, walking back to the corridor he’d just left. “Don’t move.”

Her innocent smile still glued to her lips, Rey raised her hands to show the handcuffs he hadn’t taken off her. “Won’t!”

Not without rolling his eyes, he disappeared behind the door and walked to the coffee machine situated right next to the main room where most of his colleagues were working, either on their computers or listening to citizens filing complaints. Wincing at the distant cacophony, Ben turned to the machine and focused on the choices it gave him and, suddenly, it occurred to him that she hadn’t asked for a specific type of coffee when, according to the screen before his eyes, there were at least six of them.

“I think she’d like an espresso.”

Hadn’t he been so tired, he would probably have jumped at the realization that someone was sitting next to him. But, given the time and situation, Ben settled for a simple frown as he turned to the young man that he recognized as Rey’s friend, accompanied by Mr. Dameron and his dog –who didn’t look as if he’d just been stolen by a complete stranger.

“One sugar,” the stranger added with a wink.

Ignoring the other man’s chuckle, Ben turned back to the machine and followed his advice, hitting the screen with impatience. When finally the miserable _beep_ signaling the beverage was ready echoed, he grabbed the hot cup and mumbled an almost inaudible “thank you” before walking back to the interrogation room, where Rey greeted him with a satisfied smile.

“Thanks!” She exclaimed as he placed the cup in front of her.

“Can you give me your version of the story, now?” Ben pressed her, nervously tapping his foot.

Her face half-hidden behind the cup she was holding with her tied hands, Rey spilled some coffee on the table as she nodded frantically and cautiously put the beverage aside as if she hadn’t already ruined the surface.

“So, funny story…” She started, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve.

“Can you _write it down_?” Ben specified before she could add anything.

Not once letting go of her smile, she nodded once again and took the form and pen waiting for her in the middle of the table and started writing under his tired, curious eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompts used: “I can’t talk to you until I’ve had some coffee.” - “Are you kidding me? It’s three in the morning.” - “So, funny story…”


	3. Why is there a hole in the wall?

_It all started when you didn’t reply to my Happy Birthday last month._

Ben’s heart made a loop inside his chest at the first words of her statement. After no more than an entire hour spent watching Rey write her statement, it took him a moment to adjust his sight to the brightness of the paper. Not sure if he could rely on his eyes at that time of the night, he read it again and again, the scribbled words staring back at him almost with impudence.

“Is that a joke?” He finally asked in a whisper before looking back at Rey. Only met with an impenetrable look and silence, he surrendered after a few seconds and kept reading the paper that looked way to small between his hands.

_I know you’ve never been a big fan of celebrations or anything, but disappearing for five years wasn't exactly the best move as a friend. I thought you hated me, so I started hating you. Weirdly enough, it’s actually easier to hate someone. I didn’t know you worked here (but I’m not really surprised, you were always the one telling me to calm down in class), but I guess that’s the only way I found to get to see you since you didn’t reply to my Happy Birthday._

_Anyway, your paper is the smallest I’ve ever seen, so I should probably get straight to the point._

_I hate you, but I love you._

“ _I hate you, but I love you._ ” He repeated, incredulous. “How am I supposed to know what to do with that information?”

“I don’t _love_ you,” she retorted on a defensive tone that sounded very different from the one she’d used so far.

The smile she’d wore all night suddenly seemed to vanish, making place for a way more familiar face: the one of the young, unsure yet defiant Rey he’d grown up with, and had spent numerous afternoons with talking about anything and everything. She’d always been up for mischiefs- but talking about her emotions and feelings was something she’d always been way less comfortable with. Knowing that, Ben remained silent and crossed his arms, waiting for her to make up her mind and talk.

Of course, she was just as stubborn as him.

“Why is there a hole in the wall?” she asked after a few minutes, visibly trying to get her playful voice back. Her eyes were glued to the exact place he’d threw a chair in his very first year as an officer when a case he’d been working on hadn’t concluded with what he’d been hoping for.

“Don’t change the subject,” he commanded on a low voice as the information started to reach his fatigued brain.

 _I hate you but I love you._ The words kept spiraling in his mind like a tornado as his eyes dove into hers, looking for an answer to his unspoken questions.

“Why would you write that?” He finally whispered.

She just shrugged, moving her eyes from him to the door as he left his chair for the third time of the night.

“Is this a game, for you?” He was walking to her the same way he usually walked to the suspects he interrogated.

 “Yeah, I just love being arrested.”

There it was: the forced laugh coupled with shifty eyes they all had right before they confessed. Except that this time, the mimic didn’t repel him -quite the contrary. In the space of a few seconds, the feelings he’d concealed for years all came rushing back, beckoning him to take one last step in her direction.

“Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now?” As soon as the words escaped him, he regretted them; yet, the look she was now giving him was worth all the embarrassment in the world.

“Show me?”

Her voice, now more hesitant than ever, highly contrasted with her movements. Her eyes staring into his, she rose from her chair and landed a hand on his chest, the other one hanging from the metallic bracelets keeping her wrists together.

He’d also forgotten how soft her skin seemed to be, and the desire to check if he was right.

“I’m at work,” he managed to babble begrudgingly

“I’m not,” she murmured. Closing the gap between them, she stood up on her tiptoes to reach a reasonable height, her eyes fixed on his lips.

“Don’t-”

She’d just started tilting her head when the door burst open on a red-haired face. Completely ignoring the two figures quickly parting from the other, Armitage beckoned Ben to follow him outside, not even looking at Rey.

“You can go home Solo, Mr. Dameron just abandoned all charges.”

Thanking his colleague with a brief nod, Ben slipped the paper in his pocket and turned to Rey, careful not to look her in the eyes as he cleared his throat. “I guess you’re free.”

“Yeah,” she murmured as he fumbled into his pockets. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he brandished the small key and unlocked her handcuffs, careful not to touch a single parcel of her skin.

With a soft “thank you” he wasn’t sure he hadn’t invented, he watched her disappear into the corridor.

 

\---

 

“ _Hi it’s me, Rey -don’t look at me like that- Sorry, it’s you, you’re being embarrassing. Anyway, since I asked for a coffee, I think you legally owe me one so here’s my number_ – If you’d like to call this person back, type 1. If you want to listen to this message again, type 2-”

For the third time since he’d left the building, Ben ordered his voicemail to replay the message.

“ _Hi it’s me, Rey -don’t look at me like that- Sorry, it’s you, you’re being embarrassing. Anyway-”_

Frowning as distant voices covered Rey’s distorted voice, Ben looked up from the bench he’d been sitting on for the last ten minutes, impatiently waiting. For what, he wasn’t sure- but he was waiting.

“See you next week, I guess?” A now familiar voice exclaimed a few meters away from him.

Narrowing his eyes, Ben felt his heart fall to his feet for the umpteenth time tonight as he recognized the young man from the coffee machine waving at him. The second man pulled him away with an amused laugh before waving as well, followed by his dog and a visibly upset Rey who made a point at not looking in his direction.

“If you’d like to call this person back, type 1. If you want to listen to this message again, type 2,” the automatic voice informed him once again.

Once again, his finger hit the screen without hesitancy and, soon, the familiar signals preceding a call echoed in his ear. A ridiculous ringtone resonated at the other side of the street, drawing a smile on his face at the song she’d chosen.

“Missing me already?” Rey’s voice greeted him.

He could see her smile from where he was: she’d stopped walking, turning around to face him.

“I hate you,” he announced as he left the bench and started walking to her, a nervous smile slowly making its way to the corner of his lips. “But I think I may love you.”

“I hate you, but I love you?” She repeated on an amused voice, walking to him as well. “How am I supposed to know what to do with that information?”

A chuckle he hadn’t been expecting escaped him as they both silently took the last steps separating them, nervous smiles blossoming on their faces. Phones still in hand, they kept staring at the other, their chests heaving with effort in the cold early hours of the morning.

“I think you wanted a coffee,” Ben finally said, shaking his phone as to remind her of her earlier request.

“Ben Solo, you really are an idiot,” she whispered with disbelief before closing the gap between them for the second time of the night.

Only this time, he didn’t step back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompts used: “I hate you, but I love you. How am I supposed to know what to do with that information?” - “I don’t love you.” - “Why is there a hole in the wall?” - “Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now?” - “Don’t.”


End file.
